identity

noun

The difference or character that marks off an individual or collective from the rest of the same kind; selfhood; the sense of who something or someone or oneself is, or the recurring characteristics that enable the recognition of such an individual or group by others or themselves.

Sameness, identicalness; the quality or fact of (several specified things) being the same.

A name or persona—a mask or appearance one presents to the world—by which one is known.

(Australia, New Zealand) A well-known or famous person.

(mathematics) An equation which always holds true regardless of the choice of input variables.

(algebra, computing) Any function which maps all elements of its domain to themselves.

(algebra) An element of an algebraic structure which, when applied to another element under an operation in that structure, yields this second element.

Roots

idemident- · Latin · same

Synonyms for identity

individualityn selfhoodn selfnessn distinctivenessn samenessn uniquenessn personalityn

Synonyms & related words for identity

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of identity — including individuality, selfhood, selfness, distinctiveness, sameness, uniqueness. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to identity

Explore words related to identity — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include identicalness, identification, identic, ids, authentication, nationality, identifiers, passports. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for identity

Common synonyms for identity include individuality, selfhood, selfness, distinctiveness, sameness, uniqueness, personality — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does identity come from?

The word identity breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root ident-, from Latin idem (“same”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.